What with the impending snowstorm (that may have already proven to be a false alarm) and my JSem project being due in a week, Cultural Calendar has been on a neurological backburner and as a result, I’ll probably use more pictures than usual. If I could use GIFs I would but this ain’t Buzzhole clickbait listicle what-have-youze and I am a newspapermanboy, not one of those internet wizards that make pictures move.

Anyways, let us begin:

November 14

Concert — Shakey Graves @ Wonder Ballroom (AA)

I would recommend this show to you (considering Mr. Shakey’s inimitable stage presence and all) but it’s sold out. Sorry, suckas. (PS I also did not buy a ticket in time, nor do I have the time for indie-folk when there are critical histories on underappreciated novels by Nabokov to be written! [But seriously, come talk to me about Pnin {or leave me the hell alone, I have work to do}]) I would tell you that you should just pick up Shakey’s new album instead but I don’t think it is good so in that case we can just carry on.

November 15

Concert — Run The Jewels @ Hawthorne Theater (21+)

Oh look, another sold out show! Too bad if you didn’t score tickets, because El-P and Killer Mike just dropped the best rap album of the year (I know this because I’m a white kid from the Midwest that reads Pitchfork) and their show should be just as good. I saw ‘em over the summer and man can Killer Mike bring it (he’s also a damn fine dancer). Can we just bring Run the Jewels as Renn Fayre surprise? Preferably with all the guests from the album (specifically Gangsta Boo, duh).

November 14, 15

Concerts - Dads, The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die @ Star Theater (AA), PSU (AA)

On the flipside of this weekend is an emo-revival twofer not to miss. On the upside, these shows aren’t sold out, so you can and (provided you don’t get too annoyed by whiney vocals) should check them out.

November 23

Concert — Cold Specks @ Doug Fir (21+)

Cold Specks’s 2014 is, in my opinion, one of the more underrated albums to come out this year; it didn’t really make a stir when it was released in August, and hasn’t seemed to pick up any new fans in the months since either. It should, though, because it is fantastic. Imagine if Macy Gray or Billie Holiday sang over a Swans album, and you kinda get what Cold Specks is slinging. I highly recommend it.

Since its been one week since you looked at me getting cold out, y’all are probably hankering for some more indoor activities, so if you are in the mood to go to the movies anytime soon, let me recommend two to ya: Gone Girl and Nightcrawler. Gone Girl is all about those complicated gender roles and sexual relations we all love talking about so much, so go with a friend or two and have a nice debate afterwords over what David Fincher was doing in this film. It’s a good time. See Nightcrawler if you want to spend an hour and a half watching Jake Gyllenhaal be a sociopathic weirdo, which is of course something you should want to see.